Reggie Bush: Patriots are not 'just another team'

(On if he thinks the Patriots are just another team) – “No, I don’t think they’re just another team. They’ve kind of been in the top for a while now. Obviously, the body of work that they’ve put out and the foundation they’ve laid out really speaks volumes to their organization, to their program, to the character of players that they’ve got over there. I have nothing but respect for those guys over there.”

(On if this game will be a benchmark to see how much progress the team has made in the last year) – “Yeah, it could be. Obviously, we don’t want to make this any bigger than what it is. It is another football game and it’s a chance for us to go to 6-6. It’s not the Super Bowl, but it’s a big game for us and we understand that obviously. It’s a divisional opponent and obviously they’re very good, so we have to do our best at making sure that we’re preparing ourselves on a daily basis to be able to come out and get a win.”

(On the Patriots defense) – “They’ve got some good players on defense, some very good players and they play well within their system. Obviously, like you said, guys like (Vince) Wilfork, (Jerod) Mayo and then they got (Aqib) Talib who’s still kind of new in to the defense, but he’s still a great player and can make some plays. We just have to do our best job at not turning the ball over for one. I think that’s the biggest thing for us. When we don’t turn the ball over, we give ourselves a chance and that’s kind of the same for every team, but, for us, it’s kind of been our nemesis for a while. We have to do a good job at not turning the ball over (and) I think playing well within our system and just focusing on getting the three-yards, four-yards to keep the drives a live.”

(On if the offense has to score a lot of points to beat New England) – “Well, I think the average person would think that just because their offense puts up so many points and, the last few games, they’ve been able to put up a lot of points. I saw the game where they put up 59 against the Colts and I don’t remember what the score was against the Jets, but I know it was a lot. It can easily get out of hand I think if you find yourself turning the ball over. That’s one of the things that we have to be cognizant of as an offense is we don’t want to be turning the ball in our own territory (and) giving (Tom) Brady the ball. It’s pretty almost guaranteed a touchdown.”

(On how important it is to sustain drives against New England and keeping their offense off the field) – “It’s very important and it is very important to keep the drives alive, sustain them. We want to be able to chew up the clock and that’s going to start with our running game (and) being able to get three, four, five, six yards on run plays and keeping the drives sustained and getting first downs. That’s going to be huge for us.”

(On the offense’s success on first downs against the Seahawks and if that was one of the keys to the success in the run game) – “It was because, in those three losses that we had, we felt like that was one thing that we got away from. We weren’t keeping drives alive. We were getting some negative run plays and we weren’t getting first downs and obviously that helps. That helps keep our defense off the field and it helps kind of tire out their defense.”

(On what part of Ryan Tannehill’s game has he seen the most progress in) – “I think just in his maturity level all together. I don’t think there’s one particular part and I think this last game you saw him go out there in a crucial situation, fourth quarter (and) put us in position to win the game. (He) made some huge throws and I think it kind of speaks to the maturity, his maturity level as a whole. Not really focusing on just one thing, but he’s been doing a great job just with the whole offense I think.”

(On if Tannehill’s surprised him at all) – “No, he hasn’t surprised me at all. I’ve seen what he’s capable of doing on a daily basis in practice and it hasn’t surprised me at all. Like I said the other day, that situation, it almost felt like we were in practice. It almost felt like the same thing we’ve been going over in practice three or four times a week. It didn’t feel any different and I think that was probably the same thing for him too.”

(On if he will play the lottery tonight) – “I am going to play Power Ball, yeah.”

(On if he has a method for picking his numbers) – “No, I think I’m just going to let the machine do it and hope for the best.”